Heads Up

“The Rivals: Hopkins vs. Jones II” — NCM Fathom, Golden Boy Promotions and Square Ring Promotions Inc. will present a match between Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins and Roy “The Terminator” Jones Jr. The fight will be broadcast live in high definition from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The event screens at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Regal Old Mill Stadium 16 in Bend. Cost is $20. (no MPAA rating)

What’s New

“Clash of the Titans” — Mortals in revolt against the gods and battling terrifying lobster-monsters, the snake-haired Medusa and the dreaded Kraken. A great deal of CGI action, skillfully done, and several good actors testing their skill at declamatory denunciation. With Sam Worthington as the buzz-cut, stubble-chinned hero Perseus in a land of bearded warriors, Liam Neeson as Zeus, Ralph Fiennes as Hades and Alexa Davalos as Andromeda. Not great cinema, but amusing silly fun. Rating: Three stars. (PG-13)

“The Last Song” — Now that Miley Cyrus is 17, it’s about time she played a 16-year-old. That she does fetchingly in “The Last Song,” and wins the heart of a beach volleyball champion a foot taller than she is. She’s come to Tybee Island to spend the summer with her dad (Greg Kinnear), whom she blames for divorcing her mother (Kelly Preston), and gradually emerges from her long gloom. With baby sea turtles, moonlight romance, a new Miley single, and no dramatic challenges from writer Nicholas Sparks. Recommended only for Miley’s fans. Rating: Two and a half stars. (PG)

“Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?” — The next chapter in the lives of eight college friends struggling with the challenges of marital life. With Janet Jackson, Jill Scott, Sharon Leal, Malik Yoba, Richard T. Jones, Tasha Smith, Lamman Rucker, Michael J. White, Louis Gossett Jr., Cicely Tyson and Tyler Perry. Written and directed by Tyler Perry. This film was not screened in advance for critics. (PG-13)

Still Showing

“Alice in Wonderland” — Tim Burton’s brilliant revisualization of Lewis Carroll’s fantasy, with Alice (Mia Wasikowska) now grown up, and the mordant denizens of Wonderland still basking in peculiarity. Beautifully drawn and told, except for the third-act surrender to formula action. The 3-D adds nothing, drains color, is a distraction. Rating: Three stars. (PG)

“Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” — The film is a kids comedy that screams “Direct to DVD.” It doesn’t help that it screams that in high, squeaky, three-part harmony. Whatever slim charms there were in the nostalgic, musically cute and slapstick-friendly first film of chipmunk mania are squished right out of “The Squeakquel” like so much rodent roadkill. The cast is cut-rate and the script needed a serious visit from a serious gag writer. Rating: One star. (PG)S

“Avatar” — James Cameron silences his doubters by delivering an extraordinary film. There’s still one man in Hollywood who knows how to spend $250 million wisely. The story involves a mission by U.S. Armed Forces to an Earth-sized moon, Pandora, in orbit around a massive star. They encounter a graceful race of towering blue-skinned forest dwellers living in harmony with their environment. Sam Worthington plays the hero, who is befriended by a Na’vi woman (Zoe Saldana) and chugs his allegiance. Awesome special effects, good storytelling. Rating: Four stars. (PG-13)

“The Blind Side” — This redemption-minded sports flick serves its inspiration straight-up with no twist. Writer-director John Lee Hancock wisely lets the true story of Michael Oher — the African-American teen who found a home and, eventually, football stardom, after being adopted by a wealthy Memphis family — speak for itself. That direct focus delivers a feel-good crowd-pleaser, but it also drains the film of the kind of subtle nuances that might have separated it from other Hollywood Hallmark-like efforts, including Hancock’s own “The Rookie.” The movie dutifully chronicles the transformation of Oher (newcomer Quinton Aaron) from blank slate to a fully formed young man, emphasizing the involvement of Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock). Bullock brings her trademark spunkiness to the mother hen role, delivering an iron-willed woman who looks past appearances to do the right thing. Rating: Two and a half stars. (PG-13)

“The Book of Eli” — Denzel Washington strides west across an apocalyptic postwar America, in possession of a precious book that Gary Oldman, boss of a small town, will kill to possess. Denzel, a deft hand with knife and firearm, is poised somewhere between invulnerable and mystical, and Mila Kunis plays a victim of Oldman who walks along to escape. To call the conclusion implausible would be an insult to the world, but the film is very watchable. Rating: Three stars. (R)

“The Bounty Hunter” — An inconsequential formula comedy and a waste of the talents of Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. He’s a bounty hunter, she’s skipped bail on a traffic charge, they were once married, and that’s the end of the movie’s original ideas. We’ve seen earlier versions of every single scene to the point of catatonia. Rating: One and a half stars. (PG-13)

“Chloe” — A woman doctor (Julianne Moore) suspects her husband (Liam Neeson) of cheating, and hires a young call girl (Amanda Seyfried) to test how he might respond. She is fascinated by the girl’s reports. Her jealousy shifts into curiosity. And the call girl? What’s in this for her? Egoyan weaves a deceptive erotic web. Rating: Three and a half stars. (R)

“Crazy Heart” — Jeff Bridges won Best Actor for his performance as Bad Blake, a broke-down, boozy country singer with a stubborn pride. Maggie Gyllenhaal finds all the right notes as a much younger reporter who comes for an interview and stays to be kissed. The songs, the singing, the milieu, the wisdom about alcoholism are all convincing. The stuff of countless country songs, made true and new. With Robert Duvall and Colin Farrell in key supporting roles. Written and directed by first-timer Scott Cooper. Rating: Four stars. (R)

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” — Nimble, bright and funny comedy about the hero’s first year of middle school. Zachary Gordon stars as the uncertain newcomer and Robert Capron is his pudgy best pal, who still acts like a kid. Chloe Moretz sparkles as the only student who’s nice to them, and the movie amusingly remembers the tortures of early adolescence. Based on the books by Jeff Kinney. Rating: Three and a half stars. (PG)

“The Ghost Writer” — In Roman Polanski’s thriller, a man without a past rattles around in the life of a man with too much of one. Ewan McGregor plays a ghost writer hired by a former British prime minister (Pierce Brosnan), whose previous ghost has mysteriously drowned. In a rain-swept house on Martha’s Vineyard, McGregor meets the PM’s wife (Olivia Williams) and his assistant/mistress (Kim Cattrall), as an international controversy swirls. A splendidly acted and crafted immersive story. Rating: Four stars. (PG-13)

“Green Zone” — Matt Damon and his two-time Bourne director Paul Greengrass team up for a first-rate thriller set early in the war in Iraq. Damon’s chief warrant officer finds that U.S. intelligence is worthless, and his complaints lead him to discover the secret conspiracy intended to justify the American invasion. Greg Kinnear is the deceptive U.S. intelligence puppet-master, Brendan Gleeson is a grizzled old CIA hand whose agency has always doubted the stories about Saddam’s WMD, and Amy Ryan plays a newspaper reporter who serves Kinnear as a pipeline. Rating: Four stars. (R)

“Greenberg” — Ben Stiller in one of his best performances as a chronic malcontent who returns to L.A. to house-sit, nurture his misery, and reconnect with people who quite rightly resent him. With Greta Gerwig as an aimless but pleasant young college graduate who feels sorry for him, and Rhys Ifans and Jennifer Jason Leigh as survivors of his troublesome past. Directed by Noah Baumbach of “The Squid and the Whale.” Rating: Three and a half stars. (R)

“How to Train Your Dragon” — Young Hiccup, whose Viking village has long been beset by dragons, befriends a young one and tames it. Thus the elders discover there can be good dragons and bad ones, and that leads to an aerial battle sequence obviously yearning to become a video game. The new DreamWorks animated feature is bright, good-looking and has high energy. Kids above the easily scared age will probably like the movie the younger they are. Rating: Three stars. (PG)

“Hot Tub Time Machine” — A raunchy guy comedy where three buddies and a nephew fall into a magical hot tub and are transported in time to the scene of their legendary bacchanal at a 1980s ski lodge. Rob Corddry, from “The Daily Show,” steals the movie as a tireless party animal; John Cusack and Craig Robinson are his buddies, Clark Duke is Cusack’s nephew, Crispin Glover is a surly one-armed bellboy, and Chevy Chase, with a twinkle in his eye, is the hot tub repairman. Not quite the equal of “The Hangover,” but with a lot of the same appeal. Better than the title might suggest. Rating: Three stars. (R)

“The Last Station” — On his country estate, in us last year, Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer) rules over a household of intrigues. His wife, Sofya (Helen Mirren), is in fierce battle with his disciple Chertkov (Paul Giamatti), who thinks the count should leave his estate to the Russian people and not to Sofya and their 13 children. Chertkov hires young Valentin (James McAvoy) to act as Tolstoy’s private secretary and a spy, but Valentin is seduced by a nubile Tolstoyian (Kerry Condon) and broadens his views about the great man. Sort of a Merchant-Ivory picture with loud instead of quiet lust. Rating: Three stars. (R)

“Shutter Island” — Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo are U.S. marshals called to a forbidding island in Boston bay, the home of an old Civil War fort now used as a prison for the criminally insane. A child murderer has escaped her cell. Martin Scorsese relentlessly blends music, visuals, special effects and all of film noir tradition into an elegant horror film as fragmented as a nightmare. If you’re blindsided by the ending, ask yourself: How should it have ended? How could it have? Rating: Three and a half stars. (R)

“Valentine’s Day” — A traffic jam of 21 stars leads to a gridlocked plot. From dawn to midnight, a group of incredibly attractive people inhabit incredibly routine plots. No time to develop realistic characters as the movie juggles its stories. With Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Garner, Jessica Biel, Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway and lots more. Rating: Two stars. (PG-13)

— From wire and online sources